snitches get stitches

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

It's almost baseball season and I'm so excited. I seriously love baseball so much... I just feel like my life is incomplete and lacking if the Dodgers aren't playing everyday. It's by far my favorite sport, although I really love the NBA as well. It's the thinking-man's game... the game for intellectuals. A game for the anti-ADD set. A game of rich history... both within the sport and the greater social context as well. Yeah... the steroid era has permanently damaged the records (the most sacred thing in baseball) and it's pretty unfair and unbalanced without a salary cap... but I just love it so much.

Baseball is such a big, long marathon of a sport that I'm incredibly streamlined with it. I watch/listen to every Dodgers game every day I can... and that's about it. I literally only have the time/energy to follow my team. I don't even know what's going on with other teams unless it's a big, noticeable story or I happen to catch some highlights on ESPN. And I like it this way. Seriously, following the Dodgers every day for 6 months... it gives you a experience that is unparalleled in other sports. The team turns into something akin to friends or family. Honestly, I'll know more about the day-to-day activities of a Dodgers reliever over most friends/family easily.

N E Wayz... the MLB At Bat 2010 app came out today and I've been so excited for it. This app is seriously the greatest thing to ever happen to a phone. It's worth it to pay for all the extra iPhone crap just to have this app. This app let's you follow the action and listen to both home and away broadcasts of every game (perfect for a Dodgers homer like me). It even lets you watch a couple of games on your phone. It's price went up $5 this season (from $10 to $15) but I would honestly pay $50 for this app. It's really the only way I can follow the team (being without TV and LA radio) without trying to find some crappy illegal broadcast on the internet.

N E Wayz... I've been staying up all night at work thinking about the upcoming season. These are some of the burning questions I've been tossing around in my head for hours on end...

Can Manny bounce back and regain his standing as one of the greatest right-handed hitters of all time? Will he be inspired in this last big contract year to put up some impressive numbers? Or is Manny done? Will he be a big distraction with that gigantic contract hanging around the team's neck?Can our starting pitching (the weak link last season) hold up this season? Will it be significantly weaker without Wolf? Will Kershaw and Billingsley keep progressing and "make the leap" this year? Who will be our 5th starter?Will Padilla's leg (that he accidentally shot in the offseason) be healthy all year? Will Padilla turn into a headcase again?Will Kemp keeping progressing and be an MVP candidate? Or will his sudden fame and relationship with freaking RHIANNA turn him into the next Darryl Strawberry/Chris Brown?Can Ethier be the late-inning hero he was last year?Can Loney add some much-needed pop to his bat?Is our glaring weakness of team speed our biggest hurdle this year?Can Martin get his average up after last year's slump?Who will be our 2nd baseman? Will Belliard lose enough weight to keep his contract? Will Dewitt win the spot?Can our bullpen recover from all the innings it threw last year?Who will be our clutch bats off the bench? Can Carrol and Giles still contribute?Will Gagne regain some of his unhittable form from a few years ago or is he just a steroid creation?Will this be Torre's last season?Will this be Scully's last season?How has the McCourt divorce affected the team? Has our sudden lack of disposable income crippled this team which is right on the cusp of a championship and will impede us of gettting over the hump and winning our first championship in 22 years?Can we ever beat the Phillies or do they own us?